All of these recent threads are making me so nostalgic. It's much better than talking about the lockout.

Word choice here is a bit tough, I used 'favorite' for lack of a better word. It's difficult for many to claim a season to be their 'favorite' when the end result could have been as bitter as 2001. Best would be too easy I feel, 2001 would win in a landslide (perhaps even if the Cup winning teams were included).

Off the bat, I think 1987-88 is an obvious choice to go along with 1993-94 and 2011-12. General sentiment among Devils fan is those teams overachieved and expectations weren't as great as 2000-01.

Maybe 2005-06 deserves a mention based on how much of a roller coaster it was.

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For me it was last years team, and it isn't even close. Beating the rangers in the ECF like that is as good of a feeling you could have short of winning a cup. Just making the playoffs was a goal for last season, everything else was bliss. Deboer was the perfect coach for that team and out coached everyone in the playoffs.

Last year's team will always be amongst my favorites - they weren't supposed to make it that far and ended up in the SCF. So damn proud of how hard they battled all season and in the playoffs.

I don't know if I'd say the 2001 team was my favorite but its up there with last year's team. I always felt like that team may have been the best Devils team ever despite not winning the Cup. What a painful memory.

A random team I loved was the 2005-06 team. The 15 game winning streak at the end of the year through the 1st round was an incredible ride after the rollercoaster of a season. Plus I loved that 4th line of Rasmussen-Wiemer-Janssen with the way they would crash and bang all over the ice - though now that I am into stats like Corsi, I'd probably not like them as much. Still I have fond memories of that team.

Edited by thefiestygoat, 12 December 2012 - 07:49 PM.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

Gotta go with 2011-2012 Devils. This playoff run had some of the best Devils memories for me. I was at game 7 in 2003, but i was only 14 at the time and we had gotten to the cup final 3 out of the last 4 years, so I couldnt fully appreciate how hard it is to get to that point. I think the rangers game 6 this year was probably one of the best if not the best Devils moment for me. We sit in section 230 and all i remember was being in a massive pile of my family and random fans, just jumping up and down and hugging each other yelling "were going to the cup!" Also, 2012's group of players seemed more like a family than a team. They always had fun throughout the season and all had each others backs every game.

2005-06 was a little bit like 2010-11 only in a less extreme fashion...a joyless, contreversial dissapointment of a first half followed by a fun, brilliant and unexpected second half. 2008-09 would be high on the list if not for the ghastly last 80 seconds, having that kind of season with Clemmsensen playing 50 games, Marty setting the wins record when he came back, a more up-tempo team etc was a pretty good regular season at least.

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"The Devils have high standards, that's the difference. We have a standard to live up to every year, and a couple of teams in our area don't have the standards we do." - Pat Burns

The New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cups everywhere:-NHL record for most road wins in the playoffs - 10-1 in '95 and 10-2 in '00-NHL record for most home wins in the playoffs - 12-1 in '03

This past season was probably my favorite. Finally getting out of the first round, beating the crap out of the Flyers, and then eliminating the Rangers and shutting up their arrogant fanbase that would drone on endlessly about how good they were all season on.

2005-06 was also great because of the incredible comeback in the standings culminating with an 11-game winning streak and passing the Rangers for first place on the last night of the season after the Rangers had like an 18 point lead or something like that. Also following it up with the four-game massacre the Devils bestowed upon them was so enjoyable, especially because of how proud Rangers fans were about finally making the playoffs.

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"Swim against the tide, don't follow the group, stay away from the majority, seek out the fresh and new, stay away from the poseurs, and don't be a barnacle. Be original, be different, be passionate, be selfless and be free. Be a hockey fan."
--John Buccigross

Last season would be my favorite. I agree with a lot of what's been said about that playoff run. For me, being there for Game 6 to exorcise the ghosts of 1994 was one of the best moments throughout my history with this team (I was in Section 107 at the Meadowlands with my father during the Messier "guarantee" game - it was the worst feeling I've ever had leaving a sporting event in my life). I've been lucky enough to be in the building to see the Cup raised in 1995 and 2003, and have watched some amazing games and series in my life, including some games against the Isles, Caps, and Bruins during our first playoff run in 1987-88.

However, there was something about that win over the Rangers last season that was so different than all the others - the mass hysteria in the arena immediately after the goal, the random people coming up to you and high-fiving or giving you a bear hug in the cooridors or on the street after the game, the scene on Edison Place where, even hours following Henrique's goal, it seemed like nobody was ready to go home, the satisfaction of knowing you will never have to hear about 1994 again without having this moment to shove right back down their throats. It was incredible, and I'm glad I was able to experience every minute of it, even though the season didn't end up exactly how we all hoped.

Before you ask, no that's not me and this isn't my video. I pulled it off of Youtube because it's awesome and represents the raw emotion of that night.

I agree with this. I mean, last season was my first as a season ticket holder and had so many great memories and unforgettable moments, but there was something so special and fun about the 2010-2011 season and that magical run. To go from that awful, awful first half to that incredible second half with Lemaire was awesome. Even though they didn't pull it off, there was something about going to those games that was special because the Devils made it seem possible and had you really believing they could do it. Then last season happened and it topped that feeling. I'd say the last season and half has just been an extremely fun time to be a Devils fan.

I'd say 2011-12, and as mentioned by PWW, I enjoyed 2010-11. There was just something special about the way that team battled in the second half. You could really see Kovy becoming the leader as that season went on.

I also have a special place in my heart for the 97-98 team. I was always a big fan of Doug Gilmour, and I loved Dave Andreychuk as a Devil. Randy McKay had a career year, Arnott arrived, Oliwa and Daniels were straight up thugs, plus Sasha Lakovic who was absolutely insane played a few. Mike Dunham was coming up and looked promising, and Shulmistra and Sidorkewicz even saw action.

That team looked great, and then they made Damian Rhodes, of all people, look like Patrick Roy.

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Official NJDevs.com Keeper of Gory Corey Schwab, Mike Peluso, Troy Crowder, Jeff Frazee, and Rich Shulmistra."The Devils are that zombie that takes an ax to the skull, a bullet to the temple and is set on fire … and yet keeps lumbering along to the annoyance of all the other zombies." - Puck Daddy

The NHL is a playoff league but if I want to just separate it by regular season since last year would win if we include the playoffs because it was a 100 point team even if we ended up sixth overall in the conference. Plus the playoff run was unexpected unlike 00-01 where it was a team coming off a cup winning season so you knew they were good. But 08-09 in just the regular season was a ride. You had Brodeur get hurt, looked like there goes the season but with Elias and Parise (back when we liked him) having career to almost career years to Brodeur finally breaking the wins record and just the good feelings as the season ended.

I agree with this. I mean, last season was my first as a season ticket holder and had so many great memories and unforgettable moments, but there was something so special and fun about the 2010-2011 season and that magical run. To go from that awful, awful first half to that incredible second half with Lemaire was awesome. Even though they didn't pull it off, there was something about going to those games that was special because the Devils made it seem possible and had you really believing they could do it. Then last season happened and it topped that feeling. I'd say the last season and half has just been an extremely fun time to be a Devils fan.

When I think about that season I always tell myself "if the Devils were ganna miss the playoffs, thats the way to do it. Go on an amazing run and be one of the hottest teams in the league, and then when they miss out on the playoffs just win the draft lottery and steal Larsson away from the islanders." My girlfriends Dad lives in long island and has been a big isles fan all his life and he was not happy when we picked Larsson.

The 2000-01 team would be my "'favorite", just because they were so much damned fun to watch game in and game out. And stupid Ranger fans (redundant, I know) were STILL calling the Devils boring.

The 1987-88 Devils are up there for me as well...that run was so magical in every way, from John MacLean's playoff-clinching goal on.

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THE NHL MUST LOVE THE DEVILS - from who else? A RANGER fan![Mark Messier]: A big, bald attention whore with a stupid Easter Island-lookin face. - from who else? DaneykoIsGod!

Even when Marty comes back maybe Larry should put Clemmensen to be on the goal during the shootouts.Can the coach do that ? Switch the goalies 5 seconds to go in overtime? - Most priceless quote ever posted on a message board.

Martin Brodeur: THE MOST ALL-TIME WINS!, 12 straight seasons of 30+ wins, 3 Stanley Cups, 4 Vezina Trophies, and zero respect from too many so-called Devils "fans" who are either too young or too bandwagon to remember the much darker days of Sean Burke, Craig Billington, Bob Sauve, Alain Chevrier, and the talented but overwhelmed Chico Resch, among many others.

It's easy to support a great player when he's playing at his very best. It takes a true fan to support that same player during those rare moments and stretches when he's not. Babe Ruth went 0-4 some games, and sometimes Wayne Gretzky was held pointless. There may be such a thing as greatness, but no such thing as absolute perfection every single night.

#30 FOREVER!

20 out of 1,946 njdevs.com members agree: CR1976 is the Most Knowledgable Poster of 2008! Victory is mine...oh yes, victory is mine!

i'd agree with last two. the first one we all said fvck it we are going to support this team no matter what and started the diablos and watched the team respond to us and go on a huge run. last year was my first season ticket year and they really made it magical, so i can't complain about either two for memories.

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Proud Winner of the 2012 Sergei Brylin Award and 2011 Andy Greene Award, Official keeper of Doc and Chico's random ramblings during play in blowout games

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“They’re the ones that makes it happen,” Lemaire said. “It’s not us. It’s not me. It’s not the other guy. It’s not the guy before. It’s not the guy after. It’s them. And they have to take care of business.”
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"I guess I just miss my friend" (#28)

Last season we dispatched the flyers in stunning fashion and then took out the rags in dramatic style! Even our first rd was thrilling. We also had a fourth line for the first time in ages and three great lines full of talent. We also got to watch larsson start his career. We had solid attendance at the rock w lots of new establishments opened up in the surrounding vicinity. So much fun..def my fav non cup season.